Flynn Calls for End of Jail Booking Fee

A push by city leaders to do away with the $120 jail booking fee assessed by Ventura County has been endorsed by Supervisor John K. Flynn, who said the fees are creating division among local officials.

At Tuesday’s board meeting, Flynn told his colleagues that because the fees are not charged equally to each of the county’s 10 cities, it may be time to reassess the system.

“If we can’t find a way to apply (the booking fees) equitably across the board, then I think we should consider doing away with the booking fees,” Flynn said.

The charges, assessed to cities to recoup the cost of processing prisoners into county jail, have been collected by Ventura County for the past three years.

But because of an unresolved lawsuit filed against the county by a coalition of cities, none of the $3 million collected to date has been spent.

Under the current system, only cities that do not contract out for police services--Simi Valley, Oxnard, Port Hueneme, Ventura and Santa Paula--are charged the fees.

Under an earlier court decision, cities contracting with the county for police protection cannot be assessed the booking fees.

Supervisors should do away with the assessments now, Flynn said, because a new board will be seated in January, following the November vote in which incumbent supervisors Maria VanderKolk and Vicky Howard will not be candidates for reelection.

Last month, a group of city leaders wrote a letter to the board requesting the fees be discontinued, but that appeal was rejected.